Digital was supposed to have solved communications problems, it's only ramped up the choices thus making it easy to know if you've made some kind of transaction but harder than ever to know if you've really made a connection. The old saying "the greatest problem in communications is the illusion that it has occurred" has never been more true. For marketers who so desperately need to communicate with new customers, the challenges are steep.

DIY. It's the founder's mindset. That's how you got into business in the first place, because you could do something better than the next person. But as your company grows, "doing-it-yourself" is usually an unsustainable trap. This is particularly true when it comes to marketing.

It's remarkable how many things in life become standard issue, despite a total lack of quality or effectiveness. We accept them, even implement them ourselves because they're easy. Or they're simply the way things have always been done. Airplane seats, banquet food, Congress, your uncle's inappropriate jokes at Thanksgiving. They are what they are. They elicit groans. Yet, they don't change. They are part of the life we accept.
The marketing version of this is ...